Zero Hour is a 2006[1] one-person play written and performed by playwright and actor Jim Brochu and directed by actress Piper Laurie.
Brochu's Mostel recounts his life and career; he describes the impact of the Hollywood blacklist on himself and his friends, including his testimony before the House Un-American Activities Committee, as well as his success with A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Fiddler on the Roof and the original movie version of The Producers.
[2] A lifelong admirer of Mostel, Brochu found inspiration during his research into the adversity Mostel faced, including his parents' rejection of his marriage to a Catholic woman and a bus accident that resulted in a severe leg injury, and how his "sense of humor saved him".
[2] Writing the play during intermissions of another show he was working on, Brochu also drew upon his own recollections of Mostel, including seeing the actor in Forum and visiting him backstage: I went down and Zero was outside of his dressing room reading the Riot Act to one of the other actors.
[1]After seeing the play, Mostel contemporary Theodore Bikel wrote to Brochu, "Thank you for bringing back a volcano that we thought was long extinct.